All right, I'm back- thank you to all of you who wished me a good time in Hawaii- it was great, this one kid kept having all this horrible luck, it was hilarious- anyway, here we go with chapter 12.
Sorry I made you wait so long, but I didn't know what to do- that is, I knew what I was going to do, but it seemed so boring! But then I had a brainstorm, so now I've thrown in some more drama for you. You'll probably all want to kill me for it, but I couldn't resist! Unfortunately, I had a lot of homework this week, so I didn't get too much time to write.
And, just so no one gets confused, I have put what is supposed to be a newspaper article in here, which is in bold.
-Erik blinked, and she thought she saw tears in his eyes. "Oh, Christine- thank you!" he said hoarsely. "You have made me the happiest man in the world!"
She smiled, for she too was ecstatic. She had known that he would want her to accept his offer, and that was the sole reason she had done so. She hadn't been thinking for herself, but for him.
Suddenly, Christine realized how close together she had placed the armchairs. If she could move her leg a little, it would touch Erik's. She was just wondering if she could, accidentally-on-purpose, do that very thing, when the door banged open.
"Christine!" It was Meg, holding a newspaper and looking both excited and slightly worried. "You won't believe this- look!"
She handed her the paper, which had been open to a page near the back.
"Look there- in the corner."
The article was in the lower left-hand corner. Christine's breath caught as soon as she read the headline-
VICOMTE DE CHAGNY FOUND DEAD; FAMILY FRIEND SUSPECTED
The Vicomte de Chagny was found stabbed to death in his home late yesterday morning.
Police say that soon after the approximate time of the stabbing, Duke Antoine Mattice of Normandy was seen leaving the estate. The Duke has been questioned, and he stated that the Vicomte was alive and well when he departed the De Chagny house. The Duke is now a prime suspect in the case.
It is rumored that the Vicomte owed a large sum of money to the Duke; these rumors, however, have not been confirmed.
When reporters requested to see the Vicomtess de Chagny, her personal maid informed them that they she had left the estate about a hour before the murder. She has not been seen since.
Raoul was dead. He had been a horrible man, true, but Christine had never wished him to die.
"Christine?" Erik asked, sounding worried. "Are you all right?"
Wordlessly, she handed him the paper. After a moment he looked up. "He's dead then. Good."
" 'Good?' How is it good?" she asked, outraged.
"He treated you awfully." Erik said. "He deserved to die."
"No he didn't!" Christine insisted. She had always known that Erik didn't like Raoul, but how could he be so cruel?
"I rather agree with Erik, Christine." Meg said quietly. "I mean- think about it."
She tried to. Could anyone deserve death? She didn't think so. To be totally honest with herself, however, she was glad he was gone.
"You're right." She said. "He's dead, and that means-" her eyes widened as she realized it. "That means I'm finally free."
-Christine had been a bit shaken by the news of her husband's death, but she had insisted that she would be fine alone in the house for a day. Meg and Mme. Giry, however, would only let themselves go to the Opera House that day when Erik agreed to stay with her.
Meg had gone backstage and found her friend Giselle, who began to tell her about a new beau of hers.
"They don't look worried, do they?" Meg remarked upon seeing the managers come backstage.
"Why would they?" asked Giselle.
"Haven't you heard?" Meg asked incredulously. "The Vicomte de Chagny's been murdered!"
"He has?"
"Yes! It was in today's paper!"
Gizelle frowned. "No it wasn't."
"Yes it was."
"No, it wasn't. I read the paper this morning, there was nothing about De Chagny in there."
"You must not have read it all, then. The article was near the back, you must've missed it."
"No, I'm quite sure I didn't."
"Oh, this is silly. You there!" she said, waving down a passing stagehand. "Do you happen to have a copy of today's paper, by any chance?"
"Oh, yes, right here." He said, handing her one from his back pocket,
"Right then." Meg said, flipping to the page. "See, Giselle? It's right-" she stopped.
In the exact place that the article had been was an advertisement for a well-known dress shop.
"That's funny." Meg said. "I could have sworn that…"
As she spoke, the managers were walking by.
"Oh yes." Andre was saying. "After all, the Vicomte de Chagny has quite enough money to finance it, and it would do wonders for business-"
The Vicomte de Chagny has quite enough money… Meg paled. It was true, he was rich. Rich enough to plant an article in the paper in place of an ad, and have that paper delivered to her house? Probably.
A chill ran through her. The Vicomte had known that Christine was at her house… He had planted the article to throw them off-guard, she realized.
"I have to go." Meg said. Dropping the paper, she ran to find her mother.
-Alright… I really didn't want to end it there, but I will put up the next chapter probably tomorrow… it'll be short, because I wanted it to be a part of this chapter, originally, but I really wanted to post something today, and I need to go to bed right now…
